4/22/2019

GOP/LIBYA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Donald Trump’s voluble Capitol Hill defender, is worried that the president’s chatter is undermining efforts to stop Libya from falling into an all-out civil war. Trump recently held a call with Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar that blindsided U.S. diplomats and confused Arab and North African countries about where U.S. policy actually stands. A readout of the call appeared to endorse Haftar — whose militia is currently waging a bloody fight seemingly to oust the country’s internationally recognized government — only weeks after the State Department denounced the leader’s tactics…Graham, who was in Tunisia when news broke of the call and witnessed the shock waves it created, also urged the Trump administration to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, saying it would give American diplomats more leverage in Libya. Oil-rich Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 Arab Spring movements, which ousted its longtime dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. Militias, criminal gangs and Islamist groups operate with impunity in much of Libya, while regional powers strive for influence in what some call a proxy war. The U.S. has called for political negotiations to end the violence.”

Nahal Toosi, “Graham frets over Trump’s mixed signals on Libya,” Politico, April 22, 2019 5:09 pm